Is this the top?
It’s a dog eat dog world in the hedge fund sector, and it can be brutal to new players even if they come in with significant experience. That was the case for Incapture, an investment and technology firm financed and supported by ex Barclays CEO Robert Diamond, that decided to launch a hedge fund in late 2013. Backed by a big name like Bob Diamond, and with technology stocks growing by leaps and bounds and prices soaring at the time, a tech-focused long – short hedge fund seemed like a sure winner. But unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.
Incapture announced on Wednesday, August 5th that it plans to close down and liquidate its $150 million hedge fund (Alpha Capture Fund) so the tech firm can focus solely on developing software for the financial sector.
Statement from Incapture on closing of Alpha Capture Fund
“The decision was made to close Alpha Capture Fund to focus on Incapture’s core technology business,” Margaret Popper, a spokeswoman for Incapture commented in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Given the great opportunities in the financial technology market and given the redirection of the company, we’ve made the decision with the best interests of our investors in mind.”
More on Incapture
Incapture was launched in early 2012 by Peter Knez, the ex CIO of BlackRock’s model-based fixed income unit. The company is divided in to two divisions. Financial service software developer Incapture Technologies was cofounded by Knez co-with former BlackRock exec Alan Moore. Knez also founded Incapture investments, which launched a high breadth, long/short, multi-strategy hedge fund in 2014.
Incapture Investments had been backed by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, who resigned almost three years ago after the UK-based bank was fined in the LIBOR rate fixing scandal.
Of note, the Alpha Capture fund was a systematic long/short fund that is designed to seek potential investments in every active securities and derivatives market in the world.
